Genetic variability in populations of sweet corn, common corn and teosinte

Abstract

The maize (Zea mays L. ssp. mays) has several related species, called teosinte, which are distributed in various subspecies of Zea and other genera. Among the different types of corn, sweet corn shows a great potential for human food. This type was originated from mutations, which increased the amount of polysaccharide in the endosperm. In Brazil there are populations of sweet corn, common maize and teosinte, however, little is known about their genetic variability. Hence, the aim of this present paper was to analyze the genetic variability in two populations of sweet corn (BR 400 and BR 402), two common corn (Pampa and Suwan) and teosinte, using microsatellite markers. The results showed a low intra-population genetic variability in populations of maize, and high variability for the population of teosinte, suggesting that the maize populations may have limitations in future cycles of breeding.